Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) slammed a New York Times editorial board member on Friday after she attacked Cruz for his factually correct comments about Frederick Douglass.
The drama started when Cruz corrected far-left activist Colin Kaepernick over a misleading quote from Douglass that Kaepernick tweeted on the 4th of July that did not capture the full context of the speech that Douglass made the comment in.
New York Times editorial board member Mara Gay responded to Cruz’s Twitter thread by writing: “Frederick Douglass is an American hero, and his name has no business in your mouth.”
Cruz responded to Gay, tweeting: “Let’s see. You’re on the editorial board of the NYT. You respond to any view you don’t like, not with facts or reason, but w/ ad hominem attack. And you seem dismayed that I linked to Douglass’s entire speech, so readers can judge for themselves. You represent your employer well.”
Cruz had initially responded to the following tweet from Kaepernick: “‘What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence? This Fourth of July is yours, not mine…There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of these United States at this very hour.’ – Frederick Douglass”
Cruz wrote: “You quote a mighty and historic speech by the great abolitionist Frederick Douglass, but, without context, many modern readers will misunderstand. Two critical points: “(1) This speech was given in 1852, before the Civil War, when the abomination of slavery still existed. Thanks to Douglass and so many other heroes, we ended that grotesque evil and have made enormous strides to protecting the civil rights of everybody.”
Cruz continued: “(2) Douglass was not anti-American; he was, rightly and passionately, anti-slavery. Indeed, he concluded the speech as follows: ‘Allow me to say, in conclusion, notwithstanding the dark picture I have this day presented, of the state of the nation, I do not despair of this country.'”
Cruz added: “‘There are forces in operation, which must inevitably, work the downfall of slavery. ‘The arm of the Lord is not shortened,’ and the doom of slavery is certain. ‘I, therefore, leave off where I began, with hope. While drawing encouragement from ‘the Declaration of Independence,’ the great principles it contains, and the genius of American Institutions, my spirit is also cheered by the obvious tendencies of the age.'”
Cruz concluded by including a link to Douglass’s full speech: